ICT Standardisation Priorities for the DSM

In the blog entry ICT standardisation in EU digital single market context, I tried to present the framework for the ICT (information and communication technology) DSM (digital single market) standardisation communication the European Commission published ahead of the general European standardisation package:

ICT Standardisation Priorities for the Digital Single Market; Brussels, 19.4.2016 COM(2016) 176 final (14 pages)

In section 3.1. Five priority domains: the building blocks of ICT standard setting (p. 5) the Commission presented its priority areas:

The Commission has identified the following priority areas: 5G communications, cloud computing, the internet of things (IoT), (big) data technologies and cybersecurity. These are the essential technology building blocks of the Digital Single Market.

In addition, the Commission hoped for positive effects in other areas (p.5):

Areas such as eHealth, smart energy, intelligent transport systems and connected and automated vehicles, including trains, advanced manufacturing, smart homes and cities and smart farming will significantly benefit from the proposed prioritisation of standards, as they rely on the essential building blocks identified. A regular review of the priorities is planned so as to respond to changes in technology and society.

This set the course for future action (p. 6):

The actions identified in this Communication aim to raise the political and strategic importance of ICT standardisation as a crucial element of the Digital Single Market, in response to growing global competition. They aim to improve the focus, agility and efficiency of the standards setting system in ICT. They encourage new approaches in standardisation, such as promoting community building, attracting new sectors, promoting open standards and platforms where needed, strengthening the link between research and standardisation, including testing of the standards, promoting consistent application of standards and their uptake by the market, developing when needed certification schemes.

The priorities selected will complement other standardisation instruments used to implement European standardisation policy. In addition to the planned Joint Initiative on European standardisation, these are the Rolling Plan for ICT Standardisation, and the Annual Union Work Programme.

After discussing the technical areas in more detail, the communication turned to governance in section 3.2. A high-level commitment to deliver and ensure leadership through standards (from page 12):

The Commission therefore proposes a high-level process to achieve the prioritised actions. This process will build on and complement the European Multi-stakeholders Platform, the ICT Rolling Plan on ICT Standardisation and the Annual Union Work Programme for European Standardisation as delivery mechanisms for standards and standardisation deliverables.

The Commission then went on to describe the new elements under the following headings:

1) Validation of priorities and improving the efficiency of the standard-setting process in Europe

2) Regularly reviewing and monitoring progress

3) Improving EU support to ICT priority standardisation

4) Ensuring fair and non-discriminatory access

5) Strengthening the EU's presence in international dialogue and cooperation on ICT standards

With regard to globalisation, the Commission highlighted the need for international cooperation (p. 14):

Reflecting the global nature of digital technology development, the Commission will continue to proactively engage with key international partners (such as the US, China, Japan, South Korea) to ensure global alignment of priorities in the ICT domain, and a consistent approach to standard setting. The Commission intends to identify, by mid-2016, possibilities for setting-up and funding a supporting mechanism to monitor on-going work and support the participation of European experts in the relevant international standardisation and other fora working on the ICT priority areas.

Finally, the Commission presented a summary of its future actions:

- launch by 2017 a regular inter-institutional dialogue on European standardisation, highlighting – inter alia – ICT priorities in order to take stock of progress on the deliverables – and where necessary – to adapt the priorities. The Commission intends to include such regular dialogue in the foreseen Joint Initiative on Standardisation.

- work in collaboration with stakeholders including ESOs, EPO, industry and research, on the identification, by 2017, of possible measures to (i) improve accessibility and reliability of information on patent scope, including measures to increase the transparency and quality of standard essential patent declarations as well as (ii) to clarify core elements of an equitable, effective and enforceable licensing methodology around FRAND principles and (iii) to facilitate the efficient and balanced settlement of disputes.

– as of mid-2016, investigate possibilities for setting up and funding supporting mechanism to strengthen European participation in global standard setting, by monitoring global standardisation activities in the ICT domain, and support the wider participation of European experts.

Rolling Plan

For an update on the activities, you can turn to the executive summary or the whole (133 pages) Rolling Plan for ICT Standardisation 2017.  

If you are content with an overview, the first 13 pages of the ICT standardisation plan offer you a fair orientation:

• Executive summary of the sections of the Rolling Plan 2017 organised around four thematic areas: key enablers, societal challenges, innovation for the single market and sustainable growth.
• The strategic role of ICT standardisation in the context of EU policy making
• Promoting the implementation of standards
• EU policy areas supported by ICT standardisation

Alphabet soup

To end on a more flippant note, if the Brussels bubble is routinely accused of being an alphabet soup kitchen, right now the Rolling Plan offers the best concentration of Brussels bubblese I remember having come across (p. 8):

The Commission would like to thank all Members of the Multi-Stakeholder Platform on ICT Standardisation for their active collaboration and for making this document possible: the EU Member States, EFTA States, standard setting organisations (ETSI, CEN, CENELEC, ISO, IEEE, IEC, ITU, OMG, IETF/IAB, OASIS, Ecma, W3C/ERCIM, UN/CEFACT), industry associations (Business Europe, Cable Europe, Digital Europe, ECIS, ETNO, EBU, EuroISPA, SBS, OFE, Orgalime) and stakeholder associations (AGE, ANEC, ECOS, EDF, ETUC).

You might need the antidote offered by Annex III: Terms, definitions and abbreviations (from page 131), where some of the abbreviations and acronyms are explained.  

Ralf Grahn

ICT standardisation in EU digital single market context

A little before the European standardisation package, the Commission published a communication related to the digital single market, on standardisation regarding information and communication technology (ICT) :

ICT Standardisation Priorities for the Digital Single Market; Brussels, 19.4.2016 COM(2016) 176 final (14 pages)

The aim of this blog post is to put ICT standardisation into the context of the (future) digital single market.

Juncker’s political guidelines

The 2014 political guidelines of Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker contain ten priorities; among them (as number 2) is a connected digital single market, as presented in the publication A New Start for Europe.

Juncker’s aims are worth remembering:

I believe that we must make much better use of the great opportunities offered by digital technologies, which know no borders. To do so, we will need to have the courage to break down national silos in telecoms regulation, in copyright and data protection legislation, in the management of radio waves and in the application of competition law.

If we do this, we can ensure that European citizens will soon be able to use their mobile phones across Europe without having to pay roaming charges. We can ensure that consumers can access services, music, movies and sports events on their electronic devices wherever they are in Europe and regardless of borders. We can create a fair level playing field where all companies offering their goods or services in the European Union are subject to the same data protection and consumer rules, regardless of where their server is based. By creating a connected digital single market, we can generate up to € 250 billion of additional growth in Europe in the course of the mandate of the next Commission, thereby creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs, notably for younger job-seekers, and a vibrant knowledge-based society.

To achieve this, I intend to take, within the first six months of my mandate, ambitious legislative steps towards a connected digital single market, notably by swiftly concluding negotiations on common European data protection rules; by adding more ambition to the ongoing reform of our telecoms rules; by modernising copyright rules in the light of the digital revolution and changed consumer behaviour; and by modernising and simplifying consumer rules for online and digital purchases. This should go hand-in-hand with efforts to boost digital skills and learning across society and to facilitate the creation of innovative start-ups. Enhancing the use of digital technologies and online services should become a horizontal policy, covering all sectors of the economy and of the public sector.

Annually the European Commission adopts its work programme (CWP in Brussels bubblese). In the 2015 CWP communication Commission Work Programme 2015 - A New Start COM(2014) 910, the Commission outlined the promised digital single market strategy (page 6), also mentioned in the annex with new initiatives.

Digital single market

During its first full year in office, the Juncker Commission published the communication, as promised:

A Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe; Brussels, 6.5.2015 COM(2015) 192 final (20 pages)

The DSM communication was accompanied by the valuable Commission staff working document underpinning the proposed actions:

A Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe - Analysis and Evidence; Brussels, 6.5.2015 SWD(2015) 100 final (109 pages)

An introductory digital single market blog post on my Finnish blog Eurooppaoikeus: EU:n digitaalisten sisämarkkinoiden strategia (11 April 2017).

The DSM Communication COM(2015) 192 started (p. 2) with the same quote from the political guidelines we saw above, before presenting the three pillars of the digital single market strategy:

• Better access for consumers and businesses to online goods and services across Europe – this requires the rapid removal of key differences between the online and offline worlds to break down barriers to cross-border online activity.  
• Creating the right conditions for digital networks and services to flourish – this requires high-speed, secure and trustworthy infrastructures and content services, supported by the right regulatory conditions for innovation, investment, fair competition and a level playing field.  
• Maximising the growth potential of our European Digital Economy – this requires investment in ICT infrastructures and technologies such as Cloud computing and Big Data, and research and innovation to boost industrial competi[ti]veness as well as better public services, inclusiveness and skills.  

Standards came into play in section 4.2. Boosting competitiveness through interoperability and standardisation (p. 15-16), including this paragraph:

Standardisation has an essential role to play in increasing interoperability of new technologies within the Digital Single Market. It can help steer the development of new technologies such as 5G wireless communications, digitisation of manufacturing (Industry 4.0) and construction processes, data driven services, cloud services, cybersecurity, e-health, e-transport and mobile payments. The EU Rolling Plan for ICT Standardisation is an essential instrument in this regard. However, an increased effort is needed to ensure that standardisation output keeps pace with changes in technologies. Currently, industry stakeholders decide 'bottom-up' in which areas to develop standards and this is increasingly taking place outside of Europe, undermining our long-term competitiveness. We need to define missing technological standards that are essential for supporting the digitisation of our industrial and services sectors (e.g. Internet of Things, cybersecurity, big data and cloud computing) and mandating standardisation bodies for fast delivery.

This boiled down to the promised action (p. 20):

• Adoption of a Priority ICT Standards Plan and extending the European Interoperability Framework for public services (2015)

EP resolution on digital single market

Under procedure 2015/2147(INI), we take note of the European Parliament resolution P8_TA(2016)0009 of 19 January 2016 on Towards a Digital Single Market Act, with the dedicated section 4.2. Boosting competitiveness through interoperability and standardisation (paragraphs 109-112), inter alia:

109. Considers that the European ICT standardisation plan and revision of the interoperability framework, including the Commission’s mandates to European standardisation organisations, should be part of a European digital strategy to create economies of scale, budget savings and improved competitiveness for European companies, and to increase cross-sectoral and cross-border interoperability of goods and services through the faster definition, in an open and competitive way, of voluntary, market-driven and global standards that are easily implemented by SMEs; encourages the Commission to ensure that standardisation processes include all relevant stakeholders, attract the best technologies and avoid the risk of creating monopolies or closed value chains, especially for SMEs and start-ups, and to actively promote European standards internationally in light of the global nature of ICT standardisation initiatives;

110. Urges the Commission and the Council to increase the share of free and open source software and its reuse in and between public administrations as a solution to increase interoperability;

Rolling Plan for ICT Standardisation

The Commission web page ICT standardisation offers us an overview, as well as link to the page 2017 Rolling Plan for ICT Standardisation released. You can download  the executive summary or the full plan.  

Ralf Grahn

European digital agendas: Wallonia in Belgium

Economic growth is the magic concept to survive and to rebound from the economic crisis. The Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020) and its seven flagship initiatives are intended to bring us smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.

The Digital Agenda for Europe is the information society or ICT strategy, which bundles 101 actions under eight pillars (themes), but they cannot be achieved by the EU Commission alone. The member states are involved in setting policy guidelines, legislation and follow-up. Many actions depend on what the member states achieve domestically.

Thus, we face the question if there are national digital agendas in line with the Digital Agenda for Europe.

Yesterday we glimpsed at Belgium and found the Flanders in Action Pact 2020 (ViA), but I did not yet stumble across a specific digital agenda.


Wallonia

Now we turn to the French-speaking region of Wallonia, where we find the broad initiative Creative Wallonia: Introduction, Trois axes and Documents. The two main documents are the framework programme and the preparatory study:

Programme-cadre Creative Wallonia (undated; 72 pages)

Le rapport de la commission Zénobe (downloadable here; 2009; 111 pages)

The substance covers wide areas of the EU2020 strategy.


Wallonia's ICT strategy

Within this context, more specifically ICT oriented is:

Master Plan TIC (dowloadable here; 16 June 2011; 92 pages)

You can find aa Executive Summary in French, as well as in Dutch, German and English: Executive Summary – ICT Master Plan (downloadable here; 6 pages)

After presenting main ICT trends, the summary offers a roadmap with ten strategic priorities and six major issues briefly outlined.

Finally, there is the Baromètre TIC 2011 – L'usage de technologies de l'Information et de la Communication en Wallonie, with hard facts about ICT usage in the reagion, as well as recommendations by the Agence Wallonne des Télécommunications (AWT) for the future (26 pages).

***

If you have updated information about a Flemish digital agenda, or about the central government of Belgium, I am grateful for information. You can comment on this blog post or send me an email. Updates about other national (regional) ICT strategies in the European Union and the European Economic Area are also welcome.



Ralf Grahn
speaker on EU digital policy and law

P.S. 1: For better or for worse, between the global issues and the national level, the European Union shapes our digital future and online freedoms. More than 900 euroblogs are aggregated by multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. Is your blog already listed among them? Are you following the debates which matter for your future?

P.S. 2: The @Avaaz petition for the European Parliament (and the national parliaments) to reject #ACTA has already been signed by 2,315,016 netizens, but more are welcome until the anti-piracy treaty has been officially buried.

European digital agendas: Flanders in Belgium

Last autumn I discussed the Digital Agenda for Europe, and I asked readers for information about corresponding information and communication (ICT) policy strategies at national level in the member states of the European Union (especially in English or other widely understood languages).

The response has not amounted to much yet, so I return to the national digital agendas on the basis of what I happen to find.


Belgium - Flanders

In highly decentralised Belgium, I came across the Flanders region, which has a Flanders in Action Pact 2020 (ViA), built along the lines of the lines of the Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020).

In English you can find links to the seven breakthrough actions. A good way to start may be the background page About ViA, with the following description of the Pact 2020 initiative:

The plan consists of twenty objectives that are sharply and quantifiably delineated, plus five breakthrough actions in areas where Flanders has already achieved a model presence but where, tomorrow, it can truly make a major difference.

The page contains links to three publications with more information:

Action for 2020! The future plan for Flanders in progress (August 2011 brochure)

Flanders in action – I'm all for it (June 2010 folder with further links)

Flanders outlook 2011 – A benchmarking of Flanders amongst the European regions (February 2011)

My cursory search did not reveal a specific digital agenda. The thematic page most closely related to the EU Digital Agenda seems to be Innovation centre Flanders, with a brief introduction. The Dutch page Innovatiecentrum Vlaanderen offers more information, as well as links to research and development (R&D) issues, more closely related to the flagship initiative Innovation Union and the R&D programmes of the EU.

The general ViA brochure in Dutch has about twice the volume of its English counterpart, but I found no specific digital agenda there either:

Actie voor 2020! Het toekomstplan voor Vlaanderen in uitvoering (January 2011)

***

If you have information about a planned or finished Flemish digital agenda, or about the central government or the other regions of Belgium, I am grateful for information. You can comment on this blog post or send me an email. Updates about other ICT (information society) strategies are also welcome.



Ralf Grahn
speaker on EU digital policy and law

P.S. For better or for worse, between the global issues and the national level, the European Union shapes our digital future and online freedoms. More than 900 euroblogs are aggregated by multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. Is your blog already listed among them? Are you following the debates which matter for your future?

Europe's Digital Competitiveness Report 2010

Competitiveness is as important as sustainable public finances for the member states of the European Union. Indeed, growth and jobs are key to higher revenue, less expenditure and better budget balance.

Information and communication technology (ICT) is a key to progress, and the EU offers an institutional framework for mutual learning.

These opportunities are essential for the weaker states in the eurozone and the EU.


Finding EU documents

It would be easier to find COM and SEC documents (preparatory documents) if the European Commission posted them all on Eur-Lex according to date and with all language versions visible through the bibliographic note.


Digital Competitiveness

Let us turn to the contents of one of the cornerstones of the Digital Agenda for Europe, one of the seven flagship initiatives of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (EU2020):

Europe's Digital Competitiveness Report 2010

(formally the two volumes of the Commission staff working document 17.5.2010 SEC(2010) 627).

The executive summary offered the following declaration on the contents (page 8):

This year’s report focuses on significant developments in the area of broadband, use of internet services and eCommerce, the digital divide, online public services, the economic impact of ICT and the ICT sector. The report benchmarks the relative performance of the EU Member States, where possible compared with other major non-European economies such as the US, Japan and Korea.

With regard to the telecommunications markets (eCommunications), the contents of Chapter 2 Broadband are largely identical with the 15th report on the Single European Electronic Communications Market – 2009 COM(2010) 253 and the accompanying staff working document SEC(2010) 630.


Digital Single Market

The same summary presented main findings about the ideal of a digital single market, one of the main challenges for the Digital Agenda and the Single Market Act (SMA):

The internet has a huge potential to strengthen the single market by providing individuals and businesses with access, at their finger tips, to the entirety of the EU single market, by making them more informed market participants and by making prices more transparent. However, the level of eCommerce and eBusiness varies across Member States, and cross-border transactions are limited. Some 54% of internet users in the EU now engage in eCommerce (ordering or buying) but only 22 % of those e-shoppers have ordered from other EU countries. The main barriers to buying online are the perceived lack of need, security, trust and privacy concerns, and lack of skills. Online businesses also face regulatory and practical barriers to cross-border trading. As a result, more than 60% of cross-border transactions cannot be completed because traders refuse to serve consumers abroad. However, a genuine Digital Single Market, an important source of economic growth, is essential to stimulate the growth of businesses through larger markets and to provide consumers with more choice and lower prices.

Productivity growth

The following reminds me of the great productivity challenges of the Mediterranean EU members, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, (Malta), Portugal and Spain, as well as the other new member states (page 11):

The ICT industry is an important contributor to the growth of the European economy: while representing 5% of GDP, it drives 20% of overall productivity growth. Accounting for 1% of GDP, the ICT manufacturing sector is responsible for one quarter of total R&D investment. Together with ICT investment and take-up by enterprises, the sector drives half of productivity growth, as was the case before the recent economic crisis.

***

I intend to present and to comment on some other interesting ICT policy findings in one or more blog posts.



Ralf Grahn


P.S. Dear Reader, I am interested in national Digital Agendas and existing language versions, as well as information society plans and IT policy actions in the member states of the European Union. If you know something about national ICT policy and law, I am grateful if you can use the comment section or email me with relevant information.

EU Digital Agenda: Radio spectrum progress

After some basic economic and market trends, broadband and regulatory developments as they appeared at the time of the Digital Agenda launch, we return to the Commission staff working document SEC(2010) 630 final/2, which accompanied the 15th progress report about telecoms (eCommunications) markets in Europe:

CORRIGENDUM
Annule et remplace le document SEC(2010) 630 final du 25.5.2010

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT accompanying the COMMUNICATION PROGRESS REPORT ON THE SINGLE EUROPEAN ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS MARKET (15th REPORT); Brussels, 25.8.2010 SEC(2010) 630 final/2 PART 1 (422 pages)

The working document continued by discussing various aspects of the consumer interest: users' access to the Internet and network management, number portability, out-of-court dispute resolution, the European emergency number 112, ”must carry” obligations and ePrivacy (page 61-70).


Radio spectrum management

The section on spectrum management reminds us of the digital dividend (page 73-74):

In 2009, the Commission stepped up efforts aimed at coordinating the allocation of the digital dividend – high-quality radio spectrum freed as a result of switch-over from analogue to digital television broadcasting – for innovative wireless communication services across Europe.

In 2009 EU member states took steps towards the introduction of market-based approaches in their spectrum management practices, the study records.

This reminds us of the fresh, 28 October 2011 press release about another forward step concerning a proposal we have discussed before: First radio spectrum policy programme: Political agreement between Council and Parliament (Council document 16072/11).

You can find background information through the Commission's information society web pages dedicated to the radio spectrum theme, including the latest news on approaching completion.


eCommunications infringement procedures

Monitoring and preventive work did not eliminate the need for infringement procedures (page 77):

Enforcing effective implementation of the regulatory framework for electronic communications continued to be a priority in 2009. The Commission opened some 170 infringement proceedings under Article 258 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) (formerly Article 226 of the EC Treaty) from the date of application of the regulatory framework until the end of 2009. In around 110 cases this was due to failures to correctly implement the regulatory framework. While all Member States have been concerned by enforcement action, a significant number of issues have been settled since.

You can find updated information about implementation and enforcement of existing eCommunications rules.



Ralf Grahn


P.S. Dear Readers, I am interested in national Digital Agendas (existing language versions), as well as information society plans and ICT actions in the member states of the European Union. If you know something, you can use the comment section or email me.

EU Digital Agenda: ICT markets and information society

The latest roundups of my blog posts in the trilingual series about EU and national information society strategies can be found in the entries Euroopan digitaalistrategia – kirjoitussarja FI SV EN and Digital Agenda: EU and national FI SV EN.

I commented briefly on one of the cornerstones of the Digital Agenda for Europe in the blog post EU electronic communications market(s) at Digital Agenda start.

This was the communication COM(2010) 253 final/3, which exists in 22 official EU languages, but the version in force seems to be the third revision. We went to the English pdf version of the 15th report:

CORRIGENDUM:
Annule et remplace le document COM(2010) 253 final du 25.5.2010
Concerne toutes les versions linguistiques

PROGRESS REPORT ON THE SINGLE EUROPEAN ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS MARKET 2009 (15TH REPORT); Brussels, 25.8.2010 COM(2010) 253 final/3 (16 pages)


eCommunications

We saw that telecoms networks and services are sorted under the Commission's Information Society web pages eCommunications.

The web page 15th Progress report on the Single European Electronic Communications Market - 2009 offered us access to the communication COM(2010) 253 in 22 EU languages, as well as to the two parts of the accompanying Commission staff working document SEC(2010) 630 final/2 with much more detail (English only), including the Country chapters (Annex 1 in Part 1 or separately).


SEC(2010) 630 final/2

Relatively short communications often build on more detailed documents intended for specialists. In most cases they are available only in English.

In this case the accompanying Commission staff working document comes with a warning:

CORRIGENDUM
Annule et remplace le document SEC(2010) 630 final du 25.5.2010

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT accompanying the COMMUNICATION
PROGRESS REPORT ON THE SINGLE EUROPEAN ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS MARKET (15th REPORT); Brussels, 25.8.2010 SEC(2010) 630 final/2 PART 1

It is a hefty document - 422 pages. The first 79 pages are dedicated to an overview of market and economic developments, as well as regulatory developments, while Annex 1 from page 80 deals with implementation in the individual EU member states.

Let us take a look at some basic economic facts: revenues, investment, mobile market concentration, mobile communications and fixed broadband growth.


Revenues

An introductory paragraph on revenues offers us a picture of the economic importance of electronic communications and the European ICT sector in general (in 2008; page 4):

Revenues for the EU electronic communications sector were €351 billion in 2008 in the EU, which account for about half of the ICT sector overall. Seven of the ten largest telecoms operators in the world are European. 43% of the sector revenues are driven by fixed voice telephony and broadband (both business and private users), 47% are provided by mobile communications (voice and data), with the remaining 10% from Pay TV.

Investment

The financial and economic uncertainty and crisis curtailed investment in the telecoms sector in 2008 (page 5):

Investment by the EU electronic communication sector accounted for €47 billion in 2008, which represents a drop of 1.5% on 2007. Investment in the fixed market accounted for 70% of the total (incumbents are responsible for 70% of that figure) while the mobile sector was responsible for the remaining 30%.

In a majority of member states the commercial launch of LTE (Long Term Evolution) had been delayed until 2010-2011, with extensive deployment expected in 2013-2014 (page 6).


Mobile market concentration

The study noted that the top 10 mobile operators concentrate 90% of the market (page 7, footnote 10) and described the situation (page 7) in the mobile markets:

The four main groups are present in the majority of Member States (in the form of subsidiary, joint venture or commercial agreement) and they own the first and/or second largest mobile operator in almost all EU Member States (except in Denmark, Latvia and Finland). Most of the main mobile operators are subsidiaries of fixed incumbents. The only large European group which is not the subsidiary of a fixed incumbent has now entered the fixed market to complement its activities (in order to be able to supply convergent offers, e.g. quadrupleplay). While half of European operators are not part of these groups, these represent only 20% of the European market.

Mobile communications

The study noted that the approach to auctioning of spectrum licences had led to a national focus which had not yet translated into pan European services (page 7).

Mobile internet still drove only 4% of the total revenue with significant divergence across member states (page 8). However, the mobile broadband market was emerging rapidly.

Mobile voice penetration in the EU reached 121.9% and, as expected, its growth rate in 2009
had begun to stabilise (+2.5%) (page 10).


Fixed broadband

According to the study (page 19):

In January 2010 there were 123.7 million fixed broadband lines, up 9.3% since January 2009, and the EU average fixed broadband penetration rate reached 24.8%, up 2percentage points over one year.

Internationally, in 2009 the Netherlands and Denmark continued to have the highest broadband penetration rates, followed by Sweden, Finland and Luxembourg, which had penetration levels above 30% of the population, along with a group of four non-EU countries, Norway, Switzerland, Korea and Iceland (page 22).

***

Even if not sizzling hot, I found the economic facts and market trends quite interesting, both with regard to the European Union as a whole and concerning the huge differences between individual member states.



Ralf Grahn


P.S. Dear Readers, I am still interested in Digital Agendas (language versions), as well as information society plans and ICT actions in the member states of the European Union. If you know something, you can use the comment section or email me.

Digital Agenda for Finland: ”Boring stuff” left out

As we saw in the blog post Digital Agenda for Finland: glossy or original? the colour brochure in Finnish and English differs from the original report from the government to Parliament in Finnish and Swedish.

After a preface and an introduction the brochure heads straight for the results in the somewhat rose-tinted Vision for 2020 on pages 10 to 11. Thus, the publication does not burden the reader with the ”unsexy” situation analysis as well as past and present administrative developments, which actually form the most solid and informative part of the original government report (for politicians and officials).

In short, ”boring stuff” was left out to make the brochure more readable.

Part 1 of the publication, Challenges, continues by tackling the objectives and the necessary actions, one area at a time: improving productivity in services, seeing an ageing population as a resource, becoming a world leader in sustainable development and creating growth through the (digital) single market (pages 12-27).

Later sections on the productive use of information, service users knowing their needs, improving skills and access, and reforming management and coordination of ICT policies, have been sorted into Part 2 Preconditions (pages 28-43). Here, too, the objective(s) are followed by the necessary actions in each field.

The annexes contain information not contained in the official government report, namely about future trends, the new pardigm of user orientation, as well as the collaborative process to create the Digital Agenda and a list of the members of the Advisory Board (pages 46-49).

***

The Digital Agenda for Finland was published late in the parliamentary term. Waiting for a new government to be formed and to start resolving administrative issues and future development work may have contributed to the somewhat fluffy contents of the recommendations.



Ralf Grahn


P.S. Dear Readers, I am still interested in Digital Agendas (language versions), as well as information society plans and ICT actions in the member states of the European Union. If you know something, you can use the comment section or email me.

National Digital Agenda for Finland 2011-2020

At European Union level we have the information society strategy, which is a EU2020 flagship initiative:

A Digital Agenda for Europe; Brussels, 26.8.2010 COM(2010) 245 final/2 (41 pages)


National Digital Agendas?

In the wake of the EU level Digital Agenda, are there national Digital Agendas or are the member states currently preparing their own knowledge society strategies?

Finland, Denmark and Sweden have published national Digital Agendas, but I am grateful if anyone can show me where to find other language versions of the Danish or the Swedish ICT strategy. Information about implementing measures and possible updates being planned are most welcome.

For the other EU member states as well I repeat my recent request for information, hoping to promote sharing and mutual learning to strengthen European competitiveness:

Through Twitter @RalfGrahn and my blog I asked for information if there is a national Digital Agenda in your EU country in the footsteps of the Digital Agenda for Europe.

The invitation remains open. It would be great if you could send me one tweet per language version. Please use the hashtag #DigitalAgenda to spread the word instantly.

If you want to write more, you could use the comments section of this blog or send me an email.

I will try to disseminate the information received.


Digital Agenda for Finland

Finland has a national Digital Agenda for 2011-2020, published last autumn. The 26 November 2010 press release from the Ministry of Transport and Communications offers a glimpse, including the government aim of making high-speed, 100-Mbit broadband connections available to nearly all permanent residences and offices of businesses and public administration bodies by the end of 2015.

There are three language versions of the Digital Agenda, glossy in Finnish and English, bare bones in Swedish.

Finnish: Tuottava ja uudistuva Suomi – Digitaalinen agenda vuosille 2011-2020 (49 pages)

English: Productive and inventive Finland – Digital Agenda for 2011-2020 (49 pages)

Swedish: Ett produktivt och nyskapande Finland – Digital agenda för åren 2011–2020 (the original report to Parliament, without pictures and page numbers, but with 386 numbered paragraphs)



Ralf Grahn

EU information society priorities revisited

Is it possible that Europeans do not believe in a real digital single market as a realistic possibility, but see just one more slogan in an endless bog of internal market tinkering?


European information society priorities

As I mentioned in the blog post EU Digital Agenda Public consultation 2009, one of the key documents on the road to the new ICT priorities of the Digital Agenda was the Summary of responses to the public consultation public consultation Priorities for a new strategy for European information society (2010-2015) (DG INFSO, 28 pages).

The public consultation was open from 4 August to 9 October 2009, but the summary is undated.

I am still worried about the proportionately low level of responses to the information society consultation from the Mediterranean EU member states Greece, Portugal and Spain we have seen so much in the news, as well as from the new member states which still have a huge need to catch up.


European information society themes

Rereading the consultation summary, I still feel it offers useful facts and views about the state of the European information society themes (page 5):

1) ICT for a growth and jobs agenda, 2) ICT for a sustainable 'low carbon' economy; 3) Improving Europe's performance in ICT research and innovation; 4) Creating a 100% connected society and economy through a high-speed and open internet for all; 5) Consolidating the online Single Market; 6) Promoting access to creativity at all levels; 7) Strengthening EU's role in the international ICT arena; 8) Making modern and efficient public services available and accessible to all; 9) Using ICT to improve the quality of life of EU citizens.

Online single market

In retrospect I am somewhat puzzled by the lack of interest, vision and ambition among both individual citizens and organisations relating to the online single market (nowadays often called the digital single market) as an ICT policy priority. See page 9.

Is it possible that Europeans do not believe in a real digital single market as a realistic possibility, but see it as just one more slogan in an endless bog of internal market tinkering?

In my view, a truly EU-wide digital single market would be a huge boost to European competitiveness and innovation and to most of the other worthy aims of the Digital Agenda for Europe.

Despite the low priority in the abstract, section 3.4 Digital Single Market (on pages 18-20) showed clear interest in issues presented in more concrete terms. Some of them, such as copyright legislation and licensing regimes which stifle innovative pan-European digital content services, are controversial.

***

All in all, in the context of the Europe 2020 growth strategy (EU2020) revisiting the ICT priorities through the EU information society consultation felt like a wortwhile exercise, not a waste of time.



Ralf Grahn

Jackson Hole: IMF Lagarde talking to Europe

After a period of writing about competitiveness from different angles including ICT prowess, I turned to the economic crisis in the eurozone. My later blog entries can be found through the post Eurozone: Whatever is needed, except...


Jackson Hole

This morning we return almost full circle. We look at the themes of competitiveness and technological advance (including Europe 2020 and the Digital Agenda) through the eyes of the guardians of monetary policy. What do the central bankers have to say to their neighbours, the politicians responsible for economic policy, about the preconditions for economic growth?

The annual Jackson Hole retreat of central bankers, policymakers and academics offers some clues.

Earlier today, I presented two speeches in the blog post (in Swedish) USA och Europa: Bernanke och Trichet i Jackson Hole.

I might as well link directly to the addresses:

Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Economic Symposium, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, August 26, 2011: The Near- and Longer-Term Prospects for the U.S. Economy

The chairman of the European Central Bank (ECB) Jean Claude Trichet:

Setting priorities for long-term growth; Jackson Hole, U.S.A., 27 August 2011

Some (other) speeches at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Economic policy symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 25 to 27 August 2011 can be found here.


IMF Lagarde

The fresh managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde spoke on the same panel as Trichet: Setting policy priorities for long-run growth. Her address can be found on the IMF web pages:

"Global Risks Are Rising, But There Is a Path to Recovery": Remarks at Jackson Hole; by Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund, Jackson Hole, August 27, 2011

According to Lagarde, the downside risks to the global economy are increasing:

Developments this summer have indicated that we are in a dangerous new phase. The stakes are clear: we risk seeing the fragile recovery derailed. So we must act now. It is a matter of vision, courage and timing. Decisive action will bolster the confidence that is required to restore and rebalance global growth.

Turning to the needed policies, Lagarde named the challenges:

Put simply, while fiscal consolidation remains an imperative, macroeconomic policies must support growth. Fiscal policy must navigate between the twin perils of losing credibility and undercutting recovery.

She proceeded to talk in fairly broad terms about Europe, the United States, the global dimension and conclusions.


Europe

Parochially, I opt for the section on Europe. Lagarde sent three key signals to European policy makers:

First, sovereign finances need to be sustainable. Such a strategy means more fiscal action and more financing. It does not necessarily mean drastic upfront belt-tightening—if countries address long-term fiscal risks like rising pension costs or healthcare spending, they will have more space in the short run to support growth and jobs. But without a credible financing path, fiscal adjustment will be doomed to fail. After all, deciding on a deficit path is one thing, getting the money to finance it is another. Sufficient financing can come from the private or official sector—including continued support from the ECB, with full backup of the euro area members.

Second, banks need urgent recapitalization. They must be strong enough to withstand the risks of sovereigns and weak growth. This is key to cutting the chains of contagion. If it is not addressed, we could easily see the further spread of economic weakness to core countries, or even a debilitating liquidity crisis. The most efficient solution would be mandatory substantial recapitalization—seeking private resources first, but using public funds if necessary. One option would be to mobilize EFSF or other European-wide funding to recapitalize banks directly, which would avoid placing even greater burdens on vulnerable sovereigns.

Third, Europe needs a common vision for its future. The current economic turmoil has exposed some serious flaws in the architecture of the eurozone, flaws that threaten the sustainability of the entire project. In such an atmosphere, there is no room for ambivalence about its future direction. An unclear or confused message will add to market uncertainty and magnify the eurozone’s economic tensions. So Europe must recommit credibly to a common vision, and it needs to be built on solid foundations—including, for example, fiscal rules that actually work.

Sustainable public finances, but not at breakneck speed, seems to be the message.

Update 28 August 2011 about 15 EET: I left it to readers to find Lagarde's messages. However, could not resist pointing out the greetings that Europe (= the eurozone) needs solid foundations, such as fiscal rules that actually work. What do you think she means?


Bloggingportal

For continuing discussion about the eurozone challenges and other European issues, follow the new articles from 841 euroblogs on multilingual Bloggingportal.eu, an important part of the European public space. Look for the tags 'eurozone' and competitiveness'.

In addition to my four blogs, I am active on Twitter and Facebook.



Ralf Grahn

Nordic ICT competitiveness (INSEAD and WEF)

The tenth GITR from INSEAD and the World Economic Forum (WEF)was practically global, covering the ICT competitiveness of 138 countries or territories:

Soumitra Dutta, INSEAD, and Irene Mia, World Economic Forum (editors): The Global Information Technology Report 2010–2011 Transformations 2.0 (411 pages)

This is one of many wide competitiveness comparisons, where we see that the Nordic countries come out well. Here, three EU members were among the world elite. Sweden was seen as the most competitive economy, with Finland in third and Denmark in seventh place.

The EEA members Norway and Iceland were ranked ninth and sixteenth, respectively.

What can the European Union and the other EU member states learn in order to make the Europe 2020 strategy and its Digital Agenda success stories for European competitiveness?



Ralf Grahn



P.S. To remain globally competitive Europe must leverage its economies of scale and remove remaining barriers to the completion and growth of the single market, says GSMA Europe.

Granada Ministerial Declaration on the European Digital Agenda

Yesterday, we returned to the Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union, in the blog post Spain and ICT industry towards Digital Agenda for Europe (2010). The blog post recounted the key themes of the European level trade associations for the information and communication technology businesses:

Industry Partnership Contribution to the Spanish Presidency Digital Europe Strategy - Recommendations of the European Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Industry to the Spanish Presidency of the European Union


Granada Declaration

The Spanish presidency lent its prestige to the new digital strategy being prepared, by arranging an informal meeting of EU ministers in Granada. The visible outcome of the ministerial meeting was the Granada Declaration:

Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union: Granada Ministerial Declaration on the European Digital Agenda (19 April 2010)

At this point, the communication from the Commission about the Europe 2020 strategy, 3.3.2010 COM(2010) 2020, had already been published.

After recalling the importance and potential of information and communications technologies, the four-page Granada Declaration set a number of guidelines in 29 paragraphs under the following headings:

Infrastructures
Advanced use of the open internet, security and trust
Digital User Rights
Digital Single Market
Public Digital Services
Strengthening the Competitiveness of Europe's ICT sector
International dimension of the Digital Agenda
Measuring progress

The Spanish government (La Moncloa) hailed the informal meeting of EU telecommunications and information society ministers, held from 18 to 20 April 2010 in the Andalusian city of Granada, as the most important event for the Spanish presidency in terms of the information society.

The European Commission issued a memo: Digital Agenda: Kroes welcomes Ministerial support (19 April 2010 MEMO/10/137).

Kroes rated the Granada Declaration as "a milestone, a crucial building block for a truly European Digital Agenda".

She promised that the Ministerial Declaration will be taken into account by the Commission in its forthcoming Communication on a European Digital Agenda, one of the pillars of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (see IP/10/225 about EU2020 communication).

Microsoft Europe, through John Vassallo, issued a statement on the Granada declaration (4 May 2010), where the company encouraged the Commission to seek consistent interoperability practices across industry.



Ralf Grahn

P.S. The Next Web TNW reports that Nokia’s “Sea Ray” Windows Phone prototype emerges in a video. Light at the end of the tunnel for Nokia and Microsoft cooperation in the mobile world?

A Green Knowledge Society (Digital Agenda)

After the EU Digital Agenda public consultation 2009 we turn to some of the preparatory work done by the Swedish presidency of the Council of the European Union during the second semester of 2009.

The Visby Information Society Conference 9 to 10 November 2009 left us the Visby Declaration about the policy issues for a new ICT agenda for the EU.

After some introductory remarks, the Visby Declaration attempted to outline consensus views towards a European knowledge society, in 17 distinct paragraphs.

Some of the issues are discussed in the Grahnlaw blog post: Swedish presidency and EU Commission: preparing Digital Agenda (24 December 2009), although many of the links are now broken.


Green Knowledge Society

For the Visby Conference, the Swedish government had prepared an interesting policy report, luckily still accessible:

Swedish presidency of the Council of the European Union: A Green Knowledge Society – An ICT policy agenda to 2015 for Europe's future knowledge society (September 2009; 63 pages)

The report is in English, but the Executive Summary is available in French and Swedish as well.

In the foreword, the Swedish minister for communications Åsa Torstensson upped the ante:

Can we expect structural change and radical transformation to be smooth and painless? I think not. History abounds with examples of dramatic change that brought costs for a few but great gains for many more.

The report defined ten policy areas for an overall policy framework for information and communication technologies (ICTs), each area discussed in detail together with policy goals and policy actions up to 2015. See Executive Summary (EN FR SW):

1. The knowledge economy: driver of future wealth
2. The knowledge society: participation for all
3. Green ICT: support for an eco-efficient economy
4. Next generation infrastructure: balancing investment with competition
5. Soft infrastructure: investing in social capital
6. SMEs and ICT: supporting Europe’s small enterprises
7. A single information market: enabling cohesion and growth
8. Revolutionising eGovernment: rethinking delivery of public services
9. Online trust: a safe and secure digital world
10. Clear leadership: rethinking the EU’s policy making process

Key aspects

The report summed up three key aspects to the Green Knowledge Society:

 Economic – a knowledge economy is the way forward for a competitive European economy to generate sustainable growth and employment through innovation and to enable social and environmental goals to be pursued. Investment in ICT in support of Green Knowledge Society goals would additionally provide a much-needed short-term economic boost.

 Societal – a knowledge society is an inclusive society in which everyone should be able to participate, including those less able, so that this entry becomes part of basic human rights. It is the power of individuals acting in concert that drives innovation.

 Environmental – the Green Knowledge Society is a sustainable society so that growing use of ICT must support an eco-efficient economy. It has overtones in the economy, specifically with use of sustainability to drive new products, processes and industry sectors, highlighted by several interviewees as a ‘Green New Deal’ for Europe.

Hopefully, you find the issues covered enticing enough to study the Green Knowledge Society report on your own and to discuss the issues with other interested Europeans.



Ralf Grahn



P.S. Visit the museum and art treasures of Europe at the multilingual Europeana web portal, which enables us to explore the digital resources of Europe's museums, libraries, archives and audio-visual collections – more than 15 million items from 1500 institutions.